The Brutalist director Brady Corbet is hopeful that the success of his historical epic, which stars Adrien Brody as fictional architect László Tóth, could mark a turning point for the film industry. Made with a budget of less than $10 million, the film has gone on to win three Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Drama. It's also been nominated for nine BAFTAs and is hotly tipped for this year's Oscars.
"Even if someone doesn't connect with the film, it's so significant for what it signals for the film industry – that, for example, Oppenheimer making a billion dollars at the box office is maybe not just a fluke," Corbet tells GamesRadar+ when we ask how he's feeling about the movie's award season recognition. "People are actually interested in seeing films that are historical, and films that are about adult characters and adult relationships, and all of these things that sales companies frequently tell you are like box office poison."
Oppenheimer made over $900 million at the box office when it was released in the summer of 2023, and both movies share a historical setting and a lengthy runtime (Christopher Nolan's study of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer didn't quite reach The Brutalist's monumental 215-minute runtime, but it got pretty close at 180 minutes).
"Whether people love or hate the films that are a part of the conversation this year, they're very radical movies. Like, they're pretty wild, a lot of them," Corbet continues. "I'm very grateful to be a part of that crop of films because I think that it probably encourages the powers that be to green-light projects that perhaps they wouldn't otherwise. And the next time that a filmmaker is making a movie that's over three hours long, they'll be able to say, 'Yeah, well, they did it and it worked out okay for them.'"
The Brutalist is out now in the US and arrives in UK cinemas on January 24. For more on the best upcoming movies, check out our guide to the other biggest movie release dates in 2025.
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